As a longtime player of XCom: UFO Defense and a scornful critic of the Firaxis remakes, I'll admit I was a bit nervous walking into this game. Was it really a faithful remake, or a butchery of the system like so many have done before? Turns out that it's more than that; this game is pretty much what I always wished XCom was. It's XCom with fewer bugs, more stuff to do, and it comes with an amazing soundtrack to top it off. I love this game, I'm sad I didn't find it sooner, and all of it's merits shine brighter because this is a non-profit game taken out of your own time. Thanks for the wonderful experience!
I started the game with the expectation that XCom tactics would serve me well, but the classic scout/sniper dynaic seems largely redundant when LoS is infinite. The basic pistol also failed me pretty spectacularly; even the simplest armor will let aliens shrug off a clip or two and proceed to eviscerate the wielder. There's a wealth of weaponry to choose from, though, and I'm having a lot of fun with it all (the grenade launcher in particular; after I figured out that 'timed' grenades would bounce before exploding I started using them everywhere). I thought at first it was far too easy, averaging a death only every other mission or so; once half my squad got wiped out on my first base defense mission, though, I quickly revised my opinion on the matter. (I turns out that workshops are open to the surface; a good thing to remember next time I redo my base layout.)
There's a couple of things that strike me as odd, though, and I'd feel a bit remiss if I didn't mention them. XCom had a rudimentary fog of war; while the map was revealed as you explored, it was never obvious what portions of the map you could or couldn't see, and it's even worse in UFO: AI. It's sometimes necessary to know what terrain my soldiers can see and where the aliens might be hiding, but it's impossible right now beyond basic guesswork. Some sort of grayscale or literal fog over areas you can't directly see would be very nice. I see that visibility is already a proposal category, although it doesn't mention making it clear what parts of the map you can see.
More complex interception is thoroughly enjoyable, but the lack of a separate interception screen to watch the combat unfold is quite painful. I lost about half a dozen interceptors to larger UFO craft, and I wasn't quite sure what was causing me to suffer such heavy losses. After I started deploying two-fighter teams loaded with armor and dodge modules they stopped dying, so perhaps it was simply the lack of defensive upgrades? It just seems a bit backwards that you'd improve the equipment available to interceptors and them remove the tactical command aspect of it (engage at a distance, close in fast, follow without fighting, etc.).
Another strange thing I noticed; while my soldiers slowly regenerate health in the hospital, I can take those wounded soldiers with me on missions and use medkits to return them to full health over the course of a few turns. (I also learned that you can just sell damaged interceptors and buy a fresh one for only a small cash loss, but you guys probably already know about that one.) There seems to be a lack of bloodloss damage or negative effects of low health in general, even though I could have sworn it was mentioned somewhere. Perhaps you could prevent medkits from healing damage taken from previous battles?
One last thing. I heard the most intense battle music I have ever heard (against a scout ship and three Tamans, ironically). It started with some creepy noises, then shifted into this epic chanting chorus. I only heard it once and couldn't find it on Youtube, but if anyone knows what the hell I'm talking about I'd love a link to it :3
